The Ketchum keystone. [volume] (Ketchum, Idaho) 1885-1899, 1887-08-27
NAMES OF TOWNS AND MEN.
Buffalo Courier.

OcCaSIOudIIV Tue SuUJcCt VI udiuc'
is made study by some scholar
in search of fresh literary fields
and book pastures new. The ven
erable David Dudley Field not long
since delivered an interesting lee
ture on the names of the towns OF
this state, hurling all the invectives
in his opulent magazine at the half
learned individual, whoever he may
have been, who strewed this goodly
region with the cast-otf clothing OF
Greece and Rome. Professor Der.
ter of Yale college prepared a very
entertaining pamphlet ON the names
of the Connecticut towns, and
pointed out that the absence Of po-
litical color in them bore witness
to the diplomatic caution which
characterized the colonial history
of the state, thus presenting sharp
contrast to the course of the elder
colony Of Massachusetts,, the list
of towns in which reads like a page
of "Debrett Occasionally a re-
porter in a dry time helps out his
quota with a scintillation of wit on
the never-failing theme of the
names Of his fellow citizens of Po-
lish extraction, if he lives in Buff
falo, or those of Welsh antecedents
if Utica claims him for her own.
But it must be said that the sub
ject of names generally is far from
being worked for all it is worth, as
Mr.. Emerson might have put it.
The names of towns are often
interesting. Sometimes a story
goes with them, as in the cases of
Horse Heads or Penn Yam. Some
times they commemorate individu-
ais in a quaint manner, such as
Wilkes-Barre, or Angelica, which
bears the name Of one of General
Schuyler's daughters or Marilla,
in Erie county, named after one of
the most respected and esteemed
mothers in our Buffalo Israel, who
is still with us. So Euclid, Ohio,
which, in turn, gave name to a
famous street, was a tribute of re-
spect from the original surveyors
to their patron saint in mathemat-
les. Again name may illustrate
queer course of corruption, as
Killingworth, which was originally
Kenilworth. But the names OF
towns certainly do not surpass in
interest as fields of study those of
families. The author of one of the
volumes in american Common
wealth" series, Prof. Johnson, says
the names of the Union soldiers,
who went from the state whose his
tory he is telling, will almost show
which town is entitled to each man.
And it might be remarked that a
traveller, who reads the signs in the
Western cities Of this country can
gain a pretty good idea of the an
tecedents of its merchants. If a
Coffin is met in Indiana the chan
ces are strong that the roar of the
surf upon Nantuckct's coast is a
recollection of his youth, and that
he is descendant of the original
Tristram Coffin. The Balls are the
most part from Block Island. The
only certain thing about Clark is
that he is from some part of New
England, where the name is com
moner than Smith. A L'Homme-
dieu, Loper or a Horton is from
Long Island, and Horizons Point
Light is there to witness if we lie.
A Batchelder or a Prouty is proba-
bly, from Worcester county Mass,
and a Woodruff from Litchfield
county, Conn. The Bartons are
Rhode Islanders, and proud of tell
ing how one member of their fam
lily captured the British Gen. Pres
colt. The Colts are neighbors OF
theirs, having come from Norwich,
the rose of New England. If one
should happen to be in Cheekto-
waga and hear mentioned the name
of Seldom Ely, it would be safe to
call on him and inquire what sort
of run of shad they had at Lyme
this year. The same information
could be obtained from a Bushnell
but not from a Waite; the latter
comes from farther east, from he
yond the shad limit. OF course
the Depews and the whole race OF
Vans are descendants of Dutchmen
of the Mohawk and Hudson val.
leys, and every Evans or Ellicott
is living record of the romantic
intermarriages of those families
IA